Barack And Michelle Obama Sign Book Deal Reportedly Worth Over $60 Million

Barack and Michelle Obama have officially signed a book deal with Penguin Random House,according to a report from The New York Times. The deal includes worldwide publishing rights to books from both the former president and First Lady.

The news today follows a bidding war between multiple publishers that the Times speculates "stretched into the tens of millions." Earlier Tuesday, a separate report from the Financial Times claimed that bidding had surpassed the $60 million mark, a figure well beyond that of any previous presidential memoir.

As part of the deal, Penguin Random House has also agreed to donate 1 million copies of the book to First Book, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supplying books to disadvantaged children, and Open eBooks, a literacy-focused nonprofit that partnered with the Obama White House on a 2016 digital education initiative.

"We are very much looking forward to working together with President and Mrs. Obama to make each of their books global publishing events of unprecedented scope and significance," said a rep for Penguin Random House. Barack's Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope were both released through Three Rivers Press, a Random House subsidiary.